It’s essential to invest in making sure the department is not only efficient but reliable.

One of the ways you can make this happen is through your company practices surrounding marketing software.

Consider a few of the best ways to make use of marketing software for practical results.

1. Maintain Defined Goals for Your Marketing Department

Yes, it’s obvious that you want your marketing department to get the word out about your company brand, there are so many ways to make this happen.

Unfortunately, without a goal or a plan, your marketing department will be scattered, unfocused and inefficient.

Before each quarter begins,the marketing department should be clear on what the goals are for the next few projects.

If you’re launching a new product, a defined goal might be to add 1,000 new people to the company email list through a strategic opt-in incentive campaign with the use of sales funnels and email marketing software.

It’s defined because there’s an action you want the marketing team to implement. There’s a specific number attached to that action plan. The number helps the team to measure the scope of how much content or effort they need to exert in order to pull in those numbers.

It’s also defined because the team understands the specific software and systems they’ll be using in order to get the results they desire by the end of the project.

2. Teach Your Marketing Personnel How to Use The Software

Depending on the age range of your marketing team, some staff members might be total geniuses when it pertains to offline strategies radio placements and billboards.

Other staff members might be incredibly efficient with Facebook ad campaigns and management.

Each person has their strengths and weaknesses. That’s the point of having a well-rounded team.

However, if the marketing team will be using specific software in order to execute a specific campaign or strategy, it’s important for everyone to know how to use that software. This isn’t an impossible feat either.

Set up a time for a department training session. Everyone can bring their laptops into a conference room. While one person is teaching the team how to use the software with the use of a projector and screen, the others can follow along with their laptops and software.

They can ask questions as they come up and leave with a thorough understanding of how to use specific software elements to increase the efficiency of the marketing team’s objectives.

3. Update and Maintain High-functioning Tech Tools

Slow and outdated hardware is the biggest roadblock to efficiency. It doesn’t matter what type of new software you try to implement because the foundation isn’t efficient.

It will be a lot easier for your employees to be productive and efficient when the technology they use is too.

After all, computers, tablets, and smartphones aren’t cheap. Since these investments are pricey, it’s best to take excellent care of them so that they can last a long time.

4. Track the Progress of Marketing Campaigns

Once the team has decided to use specific software for marketing campaigns, it’s best to track the progress. You don’t want to blindly use a marketing tool if it proves to be inefficient for your company’s bottom line.

A great example might be a tool like a scheduler for your social media content.

Many companies offer scheduling systems that will automate the publishing process of your content for social media. Use the software for a few weeks to see if there’s a difference in the efficiency of your marketing department’s flow.

If it doesn’t make a difference, get rid of it. If it works, continue to incorporate it as much as possible.

The same rule applies to sales funnels, email marketing services and more.

In order to track the progress, take advantage of the backend features that these different programs provide.

You can track the numbers for different features you’ve used to see if your results were the numbers you were looking for.

5. Keep the Process Simplified

When it doubt, keep things simple.

Document everything in an Excel spreadsheet to keep a running file on the process.

It’s also wise to streamline everything. If using a certain piece of software seems to complicate the process, figure out why first.

Don’t just toss the software. It might be that your team is using the software incorrectly. With a few tweaks and extra lessons, you might discover that a tool transforms the way the entire department operates.

On the other hand, if you all have tried to implement a specific piece of software and it seems to create more confusion, get rid of it.

It’s always best to maintain a process that’s clear, defined and effective.

If you’re introducing new software, only focus on introducing one new tool at a time.

When you’re introducing a new tool, you’ll want to track its effectiveness.

If you’re introducing a ton of different strategies at one time, it’ll be extremely difficult to get a handle on which strategy is the strongest on its own.

Conclusion

As you implement these tips, your marketing department will eventually operate like a well-oiled machine.

When you know that you can run certain campaigns when it’s time to launch a new product, it’s a lot easier to do so when you understand your demographic, potential results and more from a marketing perspective.

There is a learning curve, so be patient with your team.

However, as they get a strong grasp of what works, their efforts will positively impact the entire company as a whole.

Lisa Michaels is a freelance writer, editor and a striving content marketing consultant from Portland. Being self-employed, she does her best to stay on top of the current trends in business and tech. Feel free to connect with her on Twitter @LisaBMichaels.